Alfeed v



position for holding a door closed.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK, MARYLAND.

TRAVELERS NIGHT-LOC K.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,751, dated October 31, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LALERED V. THOMAS, of Frederick, county of Frederick, and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Travelers Night-Lock; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view, showing the manner of applying the lock to the inside of a door. Fig. 2 is a side view ot' the lock in Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views ot' the lock.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

Doors which are not provided with bolts are always unsafe, as almost all ot' the ordinary door-locks can be easily picked. Hence the importance of having a contrivance by means of which a person can securely lock himself into his room at night and feel perfectly secure from burglars, and upon leaving the room carry the lock withihim.

The object ot' my invention is to provide a portable or pocket doorlock which shall be applicable to any and all varieties of doors, and which canA be applied to a door so as to et'fectually prevent the entrance ot persons from without, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art'to understand my inventioml will describe its construction and operation.

ln the accompanying drawings, a a a represent three triangular plates ot' metal, of an equal size, which can be stamped out ot" thin metal plates by means of dies and punches adapted for the purpose. rlhese three plates are pivoted together by means ot' a transverse pin, b, which should be large and strong; the ends of this pin may be riveted so as to keep it in its place and allow the three plates to turn freely around it.

c c are perlorations which are made through the intermediate plate, a', in a curved line which is concentric with the axis of the pin b, so that the perforations d d through the outside plates, a a, may both be brought to register with either one of the holes o c, and a pin, e,

inserted, as shown in Figs. 1 and 8, for the purpose of holding the three plates rigidly together in a position for locking a door. The acute angles ofthe triangular plates are made sufciently sharp to enter wood with a slight pressure upon them.

The manner of using this lock is clearly shown in Figs. l and 2, where it will be seen that the plates are turned so that the acute angles ot' the plates t a project in an opposite direction to the acute angle ofthe intermediate plate, a. rlhe sharp angles of the plates being thus arranged, Qand the pin e inserted through the proper holes, one ofthe angles is pressed against the door and the other two pressed down upon the iloor. This forms an inclined prop which will penetrate the woodV sufficiently to retain itseltl in place and prevent the door from being forced open.

When the device is not in immediate use the three plates are turned so as to present the compact l'orm shown in Fig. 4, and it can be conveniently carried in the pocket.

rIhe advantage ot" using triangular plates is that the greatest strength occurs at the point where the greatest strain comes upon them, and by using three plates two of them will support the other, so as to keep it upright against a door.

By making two or more holes through the intermediate plate, a', the acute angles can be adjusted nearer to or set farther from each other, to increase or diminish the angle of thel prop.

Having thus described my invent.ion,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A portable or pocket door-fastening composed ol` triangular plates, which are pivoted together so as to operate substantially as described.

itness my hand in the matter of my application for a patent for improvement in travelers night-locks.

ALFRED V. THOMAS.

Vitnesses E. SCHAEEE,

EDM. F. BROWN.- 

